Prisons crisis: 5,000 violent offenders released early

Five thousand violent prisoners have been freed onto the streets early, new
figures have revealed, as the Government's release scheme far exceeds
original estimates.

Photo: PA

By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent

6:03PM BST 30 May 2008

The controversial early release programme was one of the first acts of the new Gordon Brown government last June and estimated that 25,500 prisoners would be released early over the course of a year.

However that number has been exceeded within ten months, the Ministry of Justice admitted, and the final figure is likely to be nearer to 32,000.

The plans have also failed to ease overcrowding, as the prison population broke another record earlier this week, hitting 83,000 for the first time.

Tories claimed the milestones exposed the Government's "incompetence" in law and order and claimed they were putting the public at risk.

Official figures for the "end of custody licence'' scheme - which allows criminals serving less than four-year terms to be released up to 18 days early - showed that 492 further crimes had been committed by those freed since last June, including one murder. Meanwhile 166 criminals recalled to prison for reoffending remain on the run.

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The criminals to have benefited so far include 5,000 violent offenders - convicted of crimes including serious assault - as well as more than 2,300 burglars, 600 robbers and 6,000 thieves. Some are being sent to £250-a-night bed-and-breakfast hotels after being freed.

Nick Herbert, the Conservatives' justice spokesman, said: "The Government claimed that 25,500 offenders would be released early in a year and that the scheme would be temporary, but this number has been exceeded in just 10 months and Gordon Brown says that he won't even take a decision on ending the scheme for at least a year.

"Thousands of violent prisoners have been released into local communities before they've even served half their sentence.

"This incompetent Government talks about making the streets safe, but their policies put the public at risk, undermine confidence in the criminal justice system, and give criminals a break."

Mr Herbert has also demanded to know when the Government will scrap the scheme, which ministers' promised would be "temporary" when launched.

Last month the most senior judge in England said that the punishment of criminals was being weakened by the early release of prisoners.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips warned against the "erosion" of sentences when criminals are let out early in order to relieve prison overcrowding.

He called for a new sentencing structure that would make it easier for the public to understand how long a criminal is likely to spend in jail.

In March, Jack Straw was forced to change the rules of one scheme after it was revealed that two terrorists had been freed early.

One was a radical muslim cleric, Yassin Nassari, 29, who tried to smuggle missile blueprints into Britain. The second man was named as Abdul Muneem Patel, who was sent to Glen Parva young offenders institution in October for possessing a bomb-making manual.

Mr Straw also suggested that criminals who face jail terms of less than a year could be let off with community work. He proposes to impose "supervision and activity'' programmes on offenders who would otherwise receive a prison term of 12 months or less.

The Tories have said they would scrap the automatic early release and reform sentencing, also building 5,000 more prison places.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph this week, Anne Owers, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, said that "incidents are happening in prisons" which showed the system was "running hot".

Conditions in prisons in January and February was "were more difficult than any time I have seen", she said.

She said: "Prisons are running hot and they were running very hot in January and February, and there were a number of incidents that were controlled.

"They are signs of a system that is running hot. This is a system operating at full strength and under considerable pressure."

Three new super-prisons to house Britain's most dangerous prisoners are not due to come online until 2010.